Court reporter for The Age

ST KILDA coach Scott Watters said he had looked over the way his club conditions its players in the wake of the focus on doping in Australian sport and remained committed to letting the club's doctors have the final say on players' health issues.

The supplements scandal to have engulfed Essendon has raised the fear among some that the authority of doctors has diminished at AFL clubs, but Watters said the Saints' medical officers, Ian Stone and Tim Barbour, would always rule when it came to the safe and legal treatment of players.

Watters said on Saturday the developments at Essendon and the release of the Australia Crime Commission report, which found performance-enhancing drugs were used in Australian sport, had prompted him to look at the way his club did things.

''We're really comfortable and really assured with where we sit,'' he said after the club's intra-club game at Seaford.

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''The importance of our doctor being the ultimate filter on anything that happens here medically, that's something we've always had, but it certainly brings that into focus.

''It also causes you to look at your staff. We've got staff here that I've got full confidence in with the ethics that they bring to the football club.

''While you always have to be vigilant, we're really comfortable from a process and a staff point of view. It's a testing time for everyone. It's a time when the game's being challenged, so we need to sit back and have a real close look at it.''

Watters said the doping issues had the potential to distract players, but he was confident the group was well informed and focused on the season ahead.